Ghost Story Collection: The Curse of the VHS Tape

The Curse Of The VHS Tape….or……Why I Will Never Watch The Movie ‘Ghost’ With You, So Stop Asking!

As Told By: Sara Brown

There have been several times in my life that I have come in contact with an item I believed to be cursed, but none as scary as that of the Academy Award winning hit film ‘Ghost’….on VHS.

I know, I know, you’re probably thinking “This is a joke, right?’ Let me assure you that I wish I were joking! I have solemnly vowed never…ever….ever…and EVER…again to watch this movie as a VHS tape for the best reason: Every time I have ever watched ‘Ghost’ on VHS…someone dies. No, I’m not kidding! Every…single….time. I started to become suspicious after my third time watching it. Yes, I agree that it could very well be just coincidence, but after how many times it’s happened, it’s just too creepy. I will review the list of the times people have died within one week of me watching ‘Ghost’ on VHS.

1.) The first time I, myself cannot remember because I was an innocent little baby who just happened to be bouncing about in the living room, where my parents, who had just rented ‘Ghost’, popped the tape into the player for viewing. Three days later, my father passed away from a sudden heart attack. My mom always talks about how she remembers their last days together, which is how I know about the tape.

2.) The second time, it technically wasn’t a human I lost, as it was a small bob-tailed calico kitten, who was my beloved pet. I was 11, and my mom had just purchased a stack of VHS tapes from Book Barn, a store that used to exist in my hometown. I sat down with her and watched it one afternoon. After we finished the movie, I went with my mom to run some errands. When we came home, our neighbor was waiting in front of our house, only to inform us that he had accidentally backed his truck up onto my kitten, who lay in pieces on the curb. Like any 11 year old, I was distraught at the loss of my pet.

3.) The third time I have ever watched it was for me the most heartbreaking: I was 13 when my mom played it again, and before the week was over, my older brother slipped into a coma and passed away. At this point, I started to realize that every time this tape was played around me, something really horrible and sad happened, however, I didn’t really believe in “cursed” or “jinxed” things at the time, so I dismissed it.

4.) The fourth time, I was 20 and my ex husband wanted to watch it, because for some weird reason, he also bought it on VHS. I was very apprehensive to watch it, however, my ex husband kept insisting it would be okay, and that there was no such thing as curses or bad luck. Two days later, one of my close friends called me to tell me that her brother, that I had a crush on when I was younger, passed away suddenly. I felt terrible for my friend and her family.

So after that fourth time, I was done. Never again will I watch that film. Although all the times I watched it were on VHS, I’m too afraid to watch it on DVD, Netflix, or even Bluray, just to be extra safe! I always wonder, however, was it just the exact tape itself, and not the film, that’s cursed, and just miraculously, somehow kept falling into our hands, or is it indeed the actual movie itself? I guess I will never know.